A Pilot Study of a Mindfulness-Based Art Therapy Intervention in Outpatients With Cancer.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to assess the effects of an 8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention on symptoms, sleep quality, health-related quality of life, sense of coherence, and spirituality in cancer outpatients.
Results Summary
The study found significant improvements in depression, comprehensibility (a subscale of SOC), and spirituality (peace, meaning, and faith), but no significant changes in physical functioning, pain, sleep, tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, or appetite.
Population
Outpatients with cancer (n = 18).
Effective Dosage
Not specified.
Duration
8 weeks.
Interactions
None mentioned.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | decrease | depression | outpatients with cancer | - | statistically significant improvements | #1 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | increase | comprehensibility subscale of the SOC | outpatients with cancer | - | statistically significant improvements | #2 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | increase | peace subscale of spirituality | outpatients with cancer | - | statistically significant improvements | #3 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | increase | meaning subscale of spirituality | outpatients with cancer | - | statistically significant improvements | #4 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | increase | faith subscale of spirituality | outpatients with cancer | - | statistically significant improvements | #5 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | physical functioning | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #6 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | pain | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #7 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | sleep | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #8 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | tiredness | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #9 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | drowsiness | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #10 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | nausea | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #11 |
8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out | no change | appetite | outpatients with cancer | - | no significant changes | #12 |
BACKGROUND: Patients with cancer frequently experience physical and psychological distress that can worsen their quality of life. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the outcomes of an 8-week mindfulness-based art therapy (MBAT) intervention, Walkabout: Looking In, Looking Out, on symptoms, sleep quality, health-related quality of life, sense of coherence (SOC), and spirituality in outpatients with cancer. METHODS: A 1-group, pre-post intervention design with repeated measures at baseline, week 4, and week 8. RESULTS: Despite a small pilot sample (n = 18), we found large effect sizes and statistically significant improvements from week 1 to week 8 in depression, the comprehensibility subscale of the SOC, and each subscale of spirituality, that is, peace, meaning, and faith. There were no significant changes in physical functioning, pain, sleep, tiredness, drowsiness, nausea, and appetite. CONCLUSIONS: The MBAT intervention, Walkabout, seems to meet key palliative care goals including improvement in emotional well-being, comprehensibility, and meaning making among outpatients with cancer.